Love is Like the Sun
by GoldenFlither
Summary: [OneShot] Nigel is under a lot of pressure. He feels as if a big part of him is missing. He just needs someone to come along to help him realize that he has everything he'll ever truly need.


**Love is Like the Sun**

_Feelings. The worst part of this world these days, is the feelings, _thought Nigel Uno. Feelings are the reason people hurt so easily. Feelings can cause the most pain out of all the things. If there were no feelings, the world would be a much better place. Yet if it weren't for feelings, then life could never go on properly. But… _Even missions don't hurt me this bad_.

The sun hadn't set yet, but to him it felt as if it set just that afternoon. But then again, he wouldn't know. He had stayed inside since then. And his shutters were shut and locked up tightly, as if to keep the devil of Cupid away. So tight that not even a hint of sunlight could surge through. This was probably what kept the room so dark and quiet.

Nigel turned to his side and stared at the photo placed upright on his counter top. It had been given to him by her, maybe about four months ago. But staring at it every night just made it seem a much longer time ago. It was of him and her. They were at some opening of a carnival. She was smiling greatly, showing off her dazed excitement. And there he was, right next to her; couldn't even demonstrate the same emotions. And now, four months later, he was regretting it. What was with him?

It's funny, how people change their minds about something, but suddenly it's too late. For instance, when you do not enjoy going to your grandmother's home for half your life. Then one day, she suddenly passes away, and you want to see her just once more. Well, that is exactly how it felt like to him. Or maybe even worse.

Nigel had liked her. She was his girlfriend, he was her boyfriend. He had gone out with her for almost two years. They'd gone on dates, went to dances together, and they'd visit each other often. She'd loved him, dearly. And all that time, all that time they'd been enjoying their time together, he'd had doubts.

Why did he have to have doubts? They were great together. She'd liked him, and he'd liked her. They'd gotten compliments on their long-lasting relationship, and sometimes comments here and there. But that hadn't stopped the two. They'd always be in love, no matter what anybody said. Didn't that prove a strong relationship? Well, didn't it?

Even though he enjoyed his time with his girlfriend, he had other exciting prized hobbies as well. And that was pretty much, in definition, his team. It was a group of five, him and his team I mean. He would be considered first, then his friend Hoagie P. Gilligan, then Kuki Sanban was after him, after her would come Wallabee Beatles, and then last, but most certainly not least, was Abigail Lincoln.

He loved, absolutely adored, spending time with his teammates – his _friends_. Everyday was an adventure. Mission or not, there was always something around the corner, preparing to present itself. And he loved it. Surprises were his favorite part of life. Missions were like a party to him. Dodging deadly laser beams was his dancing. But even when he was not on a mission, the times he spent with his dear friends were priceless.

So why weren't his times with Lizzie priceless? Why did it have to end with anger? Their relationship, I mean. And even in the middle, how come he'd felt so…doubtful, when he was feeling so secure at the same time?

Nigel buried his head in his hands, and pulled his knees up underneath his chin. That's what usually happens when you have completely different thoughts running around in your head; you tend to get headaches. Just as when he lay his head down in his pillow every single night. And for some reason, they were always triggered by the same cause. And that's utter confusion. Even a blow at the head could not have caused these kinds of headaches. Or even a milkshake. Then again, he never really got milkshake headaches.

This just had to end. Ever since beginning this relationship with Lizzie Devine, all he ever wondered on whether happiness should be put first or not.

The boy sat up slowly. He tossed his feet off the side of the bed and then he followed after them. His decision was to take a break. He was going to do what he'd always pictured doing for months now. He was going to go watch the sunset. If it hadn't already done so…

Nigel Uno clicked his heels together, like Dorothy Gale in '_The Wizard of Oz'_. Yet instead of taking Nigel back home, they quickly began to shoot flames from the bottom. He flew up to the highest window in his bedroom and pulled open his windows; going through a series of continues complicated locks before doing so. He just floated in front of the open window for a second, just staring out, taking the sun's freshness into his pale white skin.

The sun still hadn't set yet. It was not even near the horizon. Still high in the sky, it shone rays of yellow throughout the entire bird-filled skies around him. The sun itself had turned a bright shade of gold, tall above all, as if it were God itself.

Nigel then bent sideways so his boots would take him out the window. It felt so good to fly free. He quite enjoyed it. Probably because he could not be reached from the ground. But when he looked down, the people were smaller than him. Like he could rule the earth was what it felt like.

He felt like the sun.

…

It was a room filled with technology nobody's eyes could probably ever believe. But, you better believe it, because this was a room filled with technology, repeated once, repeated again. A gigantic screen stood straight up at one side of the room, while on the other side was a large machine with gadgets, levers, and blinking lights decorating it like an odd-shaped Christmas tree. There were automatic doors on one corner of the room, and a bunch of emergency switches on different parts of the walls. Pretty high tech so far, don't you think?

Aside from the technology-based possessions in the room, there were also living, breathing things: people. Children, to be precise. In the large-formatted room, there were three children. Two of them, both boys, sat on a small orange couch, staring ahead with their tongues sticking out of their mouths. A girl in a green jumpsuit and long black hair was behind that couch just staring ahead over the boys' heads blankly. The boys were holding their own blocks of wood with two levers sticking out of them; one red and one green, attached to a long dark wire leading from the blocks towards where the three kids were staring at.

"Hah! You fell off the cliff!" screeched one of the boys, a little over-weight and wearing a pilot's cap. His name is Hoagie P. Gilligan Junior.

The girl behind the couch, staring over the boys' heads, giggled at the screen ahead. Her name is Kuki Sanban.

The boy in an orange sweater beside Hoagie pouted. "Yeah, yeah, Ah can still beat ya," he muttered loudly. Wallabee Beatles is his name.

"In your dreams, Numbuh 4," replied Hoagie.

Just as their words stopped and the struggling on the controllers began once again, another kid walked composedly into the room. She was dark-skinned and had on a red hat. Her name is Abigail Lincoln. She examined the setting in front of her for a second or two.

Kuki was the first one to notice her. She'd turned around and instantly caught sight of her lingering in the doorway. She grinned. "Hey Numbuh 5! When did you get in?"

"Just now," Abigail replied, simply. She jolted her thumb over her shoulder. "Do ya guys know where Numbuh 1 was goin'? Numbuh 5 saw 'im headin' towards that empty little cliff near the park."

Hoagie shrugged. "Didn't see him all day, actually."

"Yeah. Ah think he said he was goin' on some date."

Kuki giggled. "Him and Lizzie are like two olives in a pod. They're so cute together."

Wally huffed. "Yeah roight. Ya actually think that Numbuh 1 would get married to that excuse of a girlfriend."

"Why not?" Kuki whined. "I can just see them now."

"You see everything in the land of '_Kuki Kooks Rainbow Donkey'_ Land."

Abby sighed to herself. _So much for the help,_ she thought. Her eyes slowly trailed towards the large open window. She could see the sun beginning to go down, shooting out long, elegant rays of gold. "It's gettin' late. Numbuh 5's gonna go check on him. See if he's okay."

"Hah! Ah _so_ flipped yo bike just there," Wally screeched.

"Yeah right. Like you could do that."

"Yo just jealous 'cause Ah've got mad bikin' skills."

"In your dreams."

_All right? Thanks for caring,_ she thought to herself as she turned and left the room.

…

In ages, he'd never seen the sun look the way it did that evening. It felt like a dream, if you know what I mean. Especially from the view he had there, the beauty just took over.

There was a pool of trees ahead of him, green and a hint of pale brown. The rays from the sun were absorbed by the colors of green, reflecting a hint of bright yellow. Near him was a birds' nest in one of the trees. He looked directly at it. There were a pile of eggs in them. He felt like taking them in his hands and cuddling them in his arms. But he somehow suspected that there was a mother out there very cautious about its babies.

Skies above his head were like a united rainbow. First it was yellow, then it turned orange as it went up, and then pink, then purple, and the it finally ended with light blue turning darker as it went higher. The clouds had turned pink. A bit of orange at the tip of them was refracted into a practical yellow color. He could sense a bit of shape in them. One of them looked like it was in the shape of a heart. That seemed to practically shatter his own.

He shouldn't have been feeling that way. It was his decision. Not hers. Although it wasn't what she'd wished for, he knew that it was the right thing to do. It isn't love when the lovers don't share the affection in the same way. It just isn't.

And yet, one part of him regretted doing it. What if Lizzie was the right girl for him? What if he'd made the mistake of his life? Was his future completely shattered? Was it the biggest mistake for both of their lives?

How could something feel so wrong, and yet feel so…_right?_

The sound of footsteps through the grass-covered grounds echoed in his ears. His heart began to beat. The footsteps sounded as if heading towards him. They became louder now; the rustling of the grass and the soft echo. He had this strange hope for one particular person.

_If it's Lizzie, then I can apologize. Maybe she'd give me another chance. _He then realized that Lizzie was angry. She wasn't waiting for him to reconsider. She'd particularly said that he would never speak to him again. But he wanted to talk to her. They could resolve their problems and he'd be forgiven.

All of a sudden, as he heard the footsteps slow down, he had a strange hope that it wasn't her.

He didn't turn around. He didn't want to be the first to face Lizzie, if it was even her. And even if it wasn't, he did not want to confront anybody else. Not today, anyway. But apparently, that's no way to think to stop the footsteps. They started towards him slowly now.

He shut his eyes from the scene way up ahead of him. The sun was so close to setting. He wanted to be alone when it did.

The person sat next to him now. Nigel turned his head away, eyes still shut, although suddenly curious on whom it was. A friend would be a good thing right now. He suddenly doubted that it was Lizzie.

He felt a hand. It was so gentle that he forced himself to look at the person. As his eyes met hers, he instantly felt a little disappointed. Part of him had still hoped it was Lizzie. But people don't always get what he want.

"Y'okay, Numbuh 1?" she asked him. "It's a little late ta be out, don't ya think?"

Nigel sighed. "Well, you know. Just thought I'd get some fresh air; catch a glimpse of the sun." He prayed her away. It didn't stop her.

"Okay, so is that supposed to be something to make Numbuh 5 go away? Cause it's not gonna work."

He hated it when people poked their nose into things. But he was used to Abby's nose-poking. There was never fighting it.

"So talk to me."

He sighed once more, staring down at his fingers fighting with each other. "There's nothing to talk about." He gave her a glance. "Really." An assuring smile spread bleakly across his pale face.

Abby looked in his eyes above the lenses of his sunglasses. "Really?" she asked, hesitantly.

As stupid as he just realized that he had been, his mind got him to believe that she was thinking about leaving him. But as soon as he gave her his promising nod, Nigel turned away and frowned sadly.

This just got Abby worked up. She frowned at him. "Ya don't have ta lie ta Numbuh 5, boss."

The tone in her voice frightened him. He looked at her. "I wasn't lying." He didn't want her to think that he didn't trust her. Because he did. And he wanted her to trust him as well. "There's just nothing that needs to be talked over."

"You're lying' again."

"Am not."

She moved her legs so she could cross them one on top of the other. "Well, then, how come I'm not believin' ya?"

"I don't know," he replied. He looked back down at his own crossed legs. "Because you don't trust me enough, maybe?"

Abby folded her arms, stubbornly. "Now you know that's not true."

"Yes it is." He didn't realize how off topic he was. On the other hand, his topic was dead on. "Don't think that I haven't noticed. You're always there. You always have to be right behind me, and even one step ahead of me. It's like I never get time to myself because you've always got my back."

She sadly sighed. "And is that bugging ya?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact-" He stopped abruptly, suddenly realizing what he was saying. He frowned guiltily and looked down into his lap. "Sorry."

"S'alright," she smiled faintly. "Numbuh 5 knows she can be a bit of a pain. Sometimes ya need it, though."

"I know," he said. "You won't give up until I'm satisfied. I realized that."

"Glad ya did."

A pause. Nigel looked up and smiled. "Thank you."

Abby had the urge to nudge him lightly. But somehow, the mood recoiled the beg of the action. She just kept smiling and looking at him. "It's the least I can do for ya. I mean, ya never backed _me_ down."

"As defenseless and soiled as I may seem, I would have to disagree with you on that." She glanced at him, bewildered now. "I've turned my back to you countless times. Take my first date with Lizzie, for instance. I put my girlfriend before the people I care for most. And when I became an adult; remember, the Delightful Children. I just moved on just because I'd become slightly older than you."

"Try 30 years," Abby corrected.

Nigel laughed weakly. "Well that didn't help."

"But ya were confused and scared. Ya love bein' a kid; Numbuh 5 knows that. When ya turned into an adult, ya thought there was no way back ta bein' a kid. And with yo girlfriend, Lizzie? Ya care about her, and yo relationship had just started. So there's no…"

She trailed off for a second in doubts that she was making him feel any better. Because out of his left eye and rolling down his cheek was a drop of water. Or a tear, as humans liked to call it.

He quickly swiped it away. "Sorry about that," he said, almost forcefully.

Abby leaned towards the sun to look at his face. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no," he replied rapidly. "Um…just a little something that happened today."

Her curiosity and concern had taken over now. She moved her legs again so they were lying behind her and she leaned in, balancing herself with her hand on the ground. "Okay, now you can count on me never leaving," she stated, matter-of-factly.

Nigel laughed. He needed that. "I counted on that as soon as you sat down."

"Ya know me too well."

"It happens when you know somebody for over five years," he said. He looked at her once more. "Has it really been that long?"

"Yeah, but number one rule when yo talkin' ta me," she said seriously and humorously at the same time. "No steerin' off topic."

"Does that apply to only me?"

She folded her arms against her chest. "Nice try, boss."

Nigel sighed. Sometimes there were negatives when talking to Abigail. Nothing ever slipped her mind. "It's just not important, Numbuh 5." His tone reflected the oh-how-I-wish-I-was-in-another-body tone.

"If it's so unimportant, then why is Numbuh 5 wastin' her time bein' yo friend?"

This was nothing. When you talked to Abby, there was always some sort of secrecy in the conversation. She always managed to confuse you; but purposely. Not during arguments or plans for a mission and stuff. But quiet conversations. Not like they'd had any of those for a long time.

Nigel replied, "Do you really want to know."

"I wouldn't be _buggin'_ ya if I didn't."

"Well," He looked away. "It's about my date today."

"With Lizzie?"

"No, with Numbuh 10."

See, if it were Kuki, he would have never _ever_ said that. Kuki would never catch the hint of mock and humor in his voice, and then she'd spread the word and the world would believe that Nigel was dating his cousin. But Abby; she was just a little smarter than that.

She let it slip by. "So what happened?"

He told her everything. By the time he'd finished, his eyes were teary and the sun was descending, finger's-worth away from the horizon. The clouds had floated away, and a small star had appeared. Small children playing on the streets were all inside in the safe security of their homes.

He swiped his tears away, embarrassed. "I'm sorry I broke out like that."

Abby, still a little stunned by his sudden outburst of tears and whined words, looked at him, as if shocked by not only the story.

"I guess I just regret it, and on the other hand…I'm completely relieved." He chuckled quietly to himself. "As if that makes any sense."

"Yeah." Nigel looked up at her. "It does make perfect sense. The thing is that ya gotta figure it out on yo own."

"Oh?"

She leaned in to him as if about to whisper a secret, and said, "That's the challenge of it," and then moved away.

"Well, what if you're not ready to face that challenge?"

"Then, if yo not ready," she sighed as in thought. "Then ya just gotta face it anyway until ya are ready."

He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I warned ya about talkin' ta me," she said with a laugh. "Ya gotta be ready ta hear some _real_ answers."

Nigel laughed and looked down at his thumbs in their wrestling match. "You know," he began. "As crazy as it seems," He kept his eyes in his lap now. "I think I'm ready already."

"Really," she said ironically.

Nigel nodded and looked up. "It's strange, but I do believe that I made the right decision. Lizzie didn't really solve my problems, and didn't really help them either."

"Can't argue with ya there."

He stuck his tongue out at her. "At least I got better taste than you," he said. "I mean, come on. Maurice? You can do better than that."

She laughed. "I already have."

Nigel ceased his joking mode and looked at her. She smiled mysteriously and took her position back into her usual seating position; crossing her legs one on top of the other.

"So you've already moved on from Maurice?"

She shrugged. "I never even met him at any peak. Besides, he's a teenager now." She nudged him. "Ya really think I wanna spend my time with a teenager."

"I guess not." He exhaled loudly. "Now it's my turn to move on from Lizzie."

"It'll take some time, but you'll get there."

"I sure hope so."

From above them, they heard the sound of a bird chirping cheerfully. Both glanced up at the sky and they saw the figures of two shadowed sparrows flying side by side, happily chirping their little lungs away.

Abby breathed in. "So, gotten over Lizzie yet?"

Nigel chuckled. "What's the rush?"

"Yo teammates."

He stared at her. "What have the others got to do with any of this?" he asked tensely.

"Well," she started slowly, looking down at her feet. After a second, her eyes met his. "Ever since ya even started goin' out with Lizzie, things between her and us…they been a little… _tense_."

"What do you mean?"

"Let me put it this way. She hates us, and we hate her."

"Oh…" he trailed off and lowered his head. That wasn't very simple to reply to.

He heard her sigh. "Sorry Numbuh 5 had to tell ya that."

"No, I'm glad you did," he said quickly. "Can I tell you something, Numbuh 5?"

"Sure thing, boss."

"That's pretty much the reason I broke up with her in the first place."

Her face revealed quite a bit of shock; surprise. Her eyes widened and her jaw practically dropped. "What did ya say?"

"That's why I broke up with her. Well, that plus I didn't love her anymore, or maybe never did."

"I don't believe this."

"I just couldn't bare to see my team stressed out because of my personal life."

"Ya didn't have to."

Nigel looked at her. She was mesmerized, shaking her head and burying her face in her hands. He smiled humorously. His hand reached up and was placed on her shoulder. "You don't understand." He watched as she looked up at him from her hands. "I _wanted_ to."

"Because of us."

"But I don't love her. Don't you see?"

"All I _see_ is that your team completely ruined a perfectly good and well-being relationship."

He heaved a sigh and moved his hand into his own lap. "Please try to understand."

She echoed his exhale and looked down at her own hands. "Sorry," she whispered.

"I've never been so happy in my life," he said. "I love being free. I love the fact that I broke up with her. She just…wasn't for me. If you know what I mean." His eyes went back down to his lap. "I guess…what I mean is…it's just one weight off of my back, you know? No more struggling to pick her up on time."

"Yeah," Abby muttered, staring up at the sky. "Havin' a girlfriend can put a lot of pressure on ya."

He nodded. "Tell me about it"

"And there's one thing that matters most above Lizzie, yo teammates, or anybody else ya love." She gently placed his pale hand on her shoulder.

"What's that?"

She smiled. "Yo'self."

Nigel beamed at her. "Thank you so much."

"Yo team cares 'bout ya, Numbuh 1," she said. "Please do the same."

"You guys are the world to me," Nigel confirmed. "I'd give up anything for you and the team. Even if I don't show it sometimes, please know that I care about all of you. Numbuh 2, Numbuh 3, Numbuh 4, yourself; all of you share an equal part in my heart.

"That's what helps me believe in myself. Even if I fail, and can't get back up on my own, you and the others will always be there to help me back to my feet."

Abby smiled, leaned in, and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Ya can count on that, boss," came her soft whisper.

Instantly, she was on her feet, and headed towards the Treehouse. He watched her go, a gentle breeze caught her braid, smoothly whisking it back and forth. He desperately wished she'd give him one last glance. Just a quick look so he could show her his happy expression. Untill he realized that his face was warmer than usual. He must have been blushing.

And he had absolutely no idea why.

He turned back around. The sun had finally hit the horizon.

* * *

_**GF**: I thought of this as a great scene for the movie Operation: Z.E.R.O. I don't know why, though. Whatever, I really hoped you liked it._


End file.
